Snow Angel
by Under Celestial Stars
Summary: And the circle of heaven and hell keeps turning, but it matters not when you have friends at your back, the wind in your wings, a sword, and an enemy to cut down. Onwards, and leave life behind. (T for language) (Title changed from Angel Skies)
1. Chapter 1

**OKAAAAAAAY. So, for my other Fairy Tail fanfic readers, SORRY. I have been working on this sucker. **

**I shall reveal NOTHING in this AN. Only at the bottom.**

**By the way, one question: if Karin has Isshins hair and Yuzu has Masaki's, WHERE THE HELL DID ICHIGOS ORANGE HAIR COME FROM?**

**Enjoy!**

**-Edit One- Okay, so I went and changed the timing at the end, because it wouldn't make sense otherwise. And the appearance of the white woman, she now has a katana. **

**-Cele**

1.

"Hey! See any monsters lately?"

"I'm surprised she hasn't been sent to an asylum yet."

"She's crazy."

"No, she's just an attention whore."

"I bet her parents dropped her off here and they left 'cause they didn't want her."

It was simple, really, to just drift through the day. It would have been, if it hadn't been for **him**.

Hiro.

She gazed with fractured eyes at the boy who she **knows **can see them too. The boy who _knows_, the boy _who can, the boy who does nothing to help her_.

_The boy who was her best friend._

_Help me_, she spoke with her eyes, never opening her lips to make a sound. _Help me, I know you can._

"Hiro? She's insane, right?" Hiro's friend prods him. He turned to him, glancing briefly back at her.

"_Sure. She's insane_." He replied after a pause and her world shatters.

…

The day wore on, minutes dragged by with the sun that doesn't seem to move. The bell signaled the end of the day, and she runs to leave. That is her mistake.

A monster appeared, a black shadow blocking out the light of the sky. It leered down through its white mask, long fingers reaching for her. Out of the sight of the school, she could only scream and attempt in vain to run. Its fingers wrapped around her torso and she was scooped up, the claws open long, jagged wounds up her arms and torso, and in a matter of seconds she was dizzy with pain and blood loss. She heard a slicing sound, and a shout, a shadow and black cloth and the fingers disappeared and she was falling, falling, and the darkness pulls her down, to a place she cannot see.

She woke, surrounded by machines and the stink of medicine and crisp, white sheets beneath her sore body. She moved an arm slightly, drawing in a sharp breath when the pain filled her senses. When it cleared, she could finally hear again, and she wished she couldn't.

"How is she not dead? After all that blood lost, she should have died…"

"No human would be able to live through that…"

"It's strange, is she dangerous?"

"I don't know, but we shouldn't risk it…"

She bit back the tears that threaten to spill out of her stinging eyes. They were right. No human should be alive.

_Rid the world of a monster rid the world of a monster rid the world of a monster _do it_._

_Or are you scared?_ A voice taunted at the back of her brain.

She tumbled out of bed, ignoring the beeping machines that surrounded her and searched for the silver thing that she knew was somewhere. Oh, there.

She held up the wickedly sharp scissors and wondered vaguely why the doctors haven't arrived yet. Then she wondered, just as vaguely, why she cared.

She examined her reflection- a mess of bruises, bandages, cuts and surprisingly, tears. _What a messy way to die_. She let out a final choked sob and cut the veins in her wrists- _snip, snip_, and the scarlet red blood.

_Is this what her life meant? Was it supposed to end like this?_

**But she didn't know her hell was far, far from over.**

2.

She became a monster.

The time after that flew by quickly- was it years? Months? A week? Locked inside her own conscience, she was vaguely aware that she was among the same monsters that had nearly ended her life as a human. She was aware that they were killed by the people that went by the name of "Shinigami" or, "Soul Reapers", or "Death Gods." She was aware that she was, again, unlike them.

She touched not a human soul, and never encountered a Death God. Perhaps it was her lack of killing, or perhaps just luck. She prefers to think the former, after all, why would luck aid her when she was, in a word, dead? Where was it when she was living?

She spent unusual amounts of time lingering on little questions like these- was she destined to always be a loner, like she had when she was alive? Was she alone here too? Was there anyone to help her?

The answers were unknown. Unfortunately.

But she knew that the horrid white mask over her face was the thing that kept her black- kept her a monster.

She knew it, because she was told so.

Inside her conscience, where she was still human, a human with a featureless white mask, was where she met the devil- the one bent to break her.

Tap, tap, black shoes stopped in front of her. She looked up to find a man, or a boy, as he wasn't much older than she thought she was, looking at her.

"Why, hello," he smiled down at her. Her confusion didn't have to have a voice, the questions echoed around the "room".

_Who are you? How are you here? Why are you here?_

His grin turned wicked. "You should know." He grabbed her wrist, hauling her up, and traced the mask with a slightly dazed look on his face. "I am _you_." He wrapped his fingers around the edges of her mask, caressing it.

"Do you want to become human again?" he gave her mask a sharp tug. "I can help you remove this."

_How are you able to? How can I remove it?_

This time her voice was desperate.

"How can I?" he asked, grinning. "It's simple_. I am this mask. I am your nightmare_." He let go of her, and began to walk away. "I'll be back for your answer, little girl. Be ready."

…

He continued to visit her, asking the same question over and over- _Do you want my help? Do you want me to remove the mask?_ And each time, the response was the same_\- Let me think, give me time._

The hole which replaced her heart had not stopped with his visits, like she thought they would in the face of company. Instead, it continued to grow larger, faster.

It hurt.

"Well?" a familiar voice broke her thoughts. She looked up at the older boys face. "Do you want my help?"

Her answer, this time, was different.

_Help me. _

He grinned, grabbing her chin and tilting her face towards his. "Alright then, brace yourself, little girl."

His fingers wrapped around the bottom left corner of the mask, and he pried it off of her slowly. The pain scorched her body, racing through her veins to her fingertips and toes. She was vaguely aware that she was screaming, but through the pain she was deaf to the noise.

Her body shut down, thoughts slipping from her grasp as the pain faded with it, and she succumbed to the darkness willingly, this time. She wished that it was over, over, _just let her rest_.

**Her hell wouldn't end so easily.**

3.

Dry wind blowing sand across the empty landscape greeted the waking girl.

Slim legs support her body beneath the empty, dead tree, still weak from the comatose state she had been in only moments earlier.

She lifted a strand of her hair, smiling slightly when she saw its color. She opened her mouth to speak, but made a strangled noise when she felt the state of her throat and vocal chords, both dry and rusty from being unused for so long. She cleared her throat again and again, and finally croaked,

"H-hello?" The silence echoed her, her voice lost in the empty desert. But a man answered nonetheless.

**Hello, little girl. I'm a bit surprised that you woke up.**

"Where are you?" She cried hoarsely to the wind.

**I am inside your mind, little girl. You won't find me in the desert. You'll only bring the monsters.**

"The- the monsters? You said you would get rid of them!" She cried, almost hysterically. "You _said_-"

**I said nothing of that kind, **He interrupted**. I merely said that I would get rid of your monster.**

She couldn't help it- she started to hyperventilate when she realized that she had been dragged into another lifetime _again _by this- this thing, and _she had allowed him to._

"Then why are you still here?" She screamed, shuddering sobs built in her chest and she collapsed to her knees, because she was _foolish foolish foolish _and he had taken advantage of that, he had taken advantage of that and she was _weak weak weak _for allowing him to.

**Because you ****_can't get rid of me_**** no matter how hard you try**, he taunted**, ****_because you're weak_****.**

"Then, if you can, make me stronger," She challenged with acid dripping from each syllable.

**Then that is what I shall do.**

…

And it is what he did. For many days- or nights, if the never-fading moon in this "Hueco Mundo" was any proof, she trained, killing and absorbing the spirits of Hollows. Inside the gray empty room of her conscience, they sparred and he taught her about the black sword that hung at her hip- making sure to avoid everything about the silver, reflective one across her back, and the name of both swords.

He whispered in her sleep- telling her to call his name, call his name, but she didn't know who he was, and he didn't tell her his name, either. (Was it so secret that she had to guess? She was in no mood for games, so she didn't bother.)

It was frustrating, to say the least.

Although she doubted the man in her head cared-if anything, he was amused.

The bastard.

**Care to spar?** He inquired.

"No," she replied curtly. "I'm in no mood for such games." She was hunting, and now was not the time for his petty grievances.

**Hunting**_?_

"How would you know?" She inquires sarcastically.

**Ha, ha, very funny.**

"I could be a comedian."

**_No_**.

"It's not like I would try."

The days wore on like this, semi-friendly banter back and forth while hunting and training. But there was no stopping the hole that still grew where her heart once was. But she was glad nonetheless for the comfort that he offered her, even if she was convinced that he didn't exist.

**Thanks, I appreciate the sentiment.**

It wasn't like she was going to completely accept the fact that he had tricked her (again).

But, she'd become a warrior, no longer accepting his half-assed insults lying down, she parried each remark with her own.

Although she much preferred this situation to the other option. (Total loneliness? She didn't want to know.)

And just like her previous life, it wasn't long before she was dragged out of her current life again, although not by the shadowy man in her head.

(2 days later)

It had been a while since she had last seen a non-hollow.

They, in a large group of almost 28, appeared over a sand dune in the early dawn, led by a tall, fragile looking man (?) with long white hair. She leaned down from her perch in the bare tree and watched them.

"Students," the white haired man began, "Welcome to your first training session. This is Hueco Mundo, the land of Hollows. Today, your objective is to purify or eliminate (She stiffened at the word) 15 or more hollows," a low murmuring of what sounded like complaint broke out in the back. "In groups of three." A simultaneous sigh of relief echoed across the dunes. «

"Start by splitting into groups. Hollows here have a tendency to sneak up on prey, (_That's right,_ the shadowy man chuckled) so you will have to sense them before they sense you."

Oh. Shit.

**Move your ass, get out!** The voice shouted, and she wasted no time vaulting from branch to branch.

"Er, Capitan Ukitake? I- um, there's one… right above us!" The phrase was echoed by a panic throughout the crowd, and the black man cursed.

**Move, move, move! Don't let them get you!**

"Why so distressed?" She muttered, flinging herself through the tangle of branches.

"Running?" A voice chimed from behind her.

Her battle instincts kicked in- she whirled around, drawing her ink-black sword from its sheath on her hip. Her downward slash was parried by the so-called fragile white haired man- he struck at her, shooting her straight out of the tree.

**Don't look back, don't fight; move it move it move it!**

She whirled around to block another blow from the white haired shinigami.

**Stop!**

Slash, parry, slash, slash, dodge, Cero, dodge, slash, slash, parry.

**Damn it, stop!**

**_Don't stop, let him win._**

So shocked was she at the new, _female_ voice in her head that she stopped dead in her tracks, eyes glazed over. In that moment the hilt of the white haired man came down onto her forehead, and this time, everything faded white.

**And this time, she got a taste of heaven.**

4.

White. The room was white.

Light. An unidentified source of light pooled from the window, despite the _tap, tap _of rain outside.

Warmth. It surrounded her, pulling her in, enticing her senses because it was next to new to her.

New. New, new, new, and she wished that it wasn't. Something like this shouldn't be unfamiliar.

**_Certainly not. But you can get used to it again._**

"Huh?" She whirled around. Standing next to the (white) bed on which she lay was an older woman- perhaps 25 to 30. She was clad in pure white classical Japanese robes (Unlike the black man- he had dressed in American clothes, opting for a black hoodie and jeans, which matched his hair.) and had long floating white hair, half pinned in a bun. She wore a katana, similar to hers, strapped to her back. Her smile was gentle and motherly- something she was unaccustomed to.

**_Welcome back to your inside world._**

"My…"

**_Inside world, conscience, whichever and whatever, _**she said, still smiling.

"Who… Are you?" She sat up, dizziness rushing to her head, and when it cleared she turned to look at the white woman.

**_I am that sword strapped to your back. The other one was blocking my ability to communicate, so I had to wait until he cleared._**

Ah. The black man.

The woman smiled. **_Yes. Him. But now, you have my support. Go on, be strong. It is time for you to wake._**

She woke to simple bamboo walls, unpleasant smells drifting from somewhere else and her body clad in a simple (clean, thank the gods) white sleeping yukata **(AN: I'm no Japanese, so correct me if I'm wrong…) **on a ratty old futon.

**_Do get out of here. Here in Inuzuri, no one helps you unless they can benefit from it. Now, out the window and away you go._**

Inuzuri?

**_Ah, you will get caught in three, two…_**

She didn't need any other prompting. She sprang to her feet, grabbed her swords (which lay beside her) and dove out the window. A moment later, she could hear the door inside opening, and a roar of outrage.

And she was alone again.

Well, as alone as you can get when there are two voices in your head nagging you to **do this**_, __**don't do that.**_

She became a thief in the streets, stealing food and water and clothes, whatever she needed to survive.

And she was happier, alone, for once. The rest of them were brutes, street thugs that chased her away with sticks and stones, and she nursed more than one broken bone more than once.

And again, the blissful silence was broken by chaos.

…

It was fairly fancy.

"A soul reaper," they said in the streets. "A soul reaper is coming!"

She really didn't care. The soul reapers. Those soul reapers that eliminated Hollows, Hollows that had become Hollows because the Soul Reapers had failed to purify the first Hollow before it reached the next victim.

But when the Soul Reaper passed her, she fell to her knees, overwhelmed by his Reiatsu, and the Soul Reaper took her away.

**And it keeps on turning, this wheel of heaven and hell.**

5.

Life was fairly simple at the Soul Reaper's Academy. It was like high school, everyone in their own category- the Kido masters, the swordsmen, the clueless ones.

And her.

She was her own group, letting no one near her. Her Kido was passable, her Flash Step nonexistent, her swordsmanship made her the top of her dueling class, and she kept to herself.

She preferred it that way.

…

Her first mission to the world of the living after she had graduated was to go to her hometown to eliminate a hollow there. She had almost protested, but merely nodded and left to make preparations. It wouldn't take long- she didn't even need a gigai.

She stepped through the Senkeimon, gathering her reiatsu beneath her to float to the ground. Her wide eyes scanned the city where she once lived, finding the school, the park, the little mall, and the restaurant where…

**_Not now. Don't think of it now. Sentimentalities later. Hunt the hollow, now. _**

She sprinted through the streets, towards the park. The sun was setting, and the children, still the ones that she remembered, albeit a tad older, were heading home. The park was nearing empty, parents going to take their children, couples walking off hand in hand, and within a matter of minutes, no one but her remained.

And the souls came out to play.

One by one, souls of children, long deceased, flickered into view. They chased each other, laughing, happy, _oblivious._

And if she was not careful, they would perish before nights end.

The Hollow appeared, roaring. The children screamed, scattering before the black beast. She leapt forwards, bringing her sword down upon its mask. It raised a huge claw to block the blade, throwing her back. She leapt again, this time onto the Hollows back, and plunged her sword downwards, effectively stopping it. She leaned forwards, pressing her lips lightly against its mask, and drained it of its soul. The soulless Hollow disintegrated leaving her alone in the park, as the children began running back and playing as if nothing had happened.

Oh, oblivion is bliss.

…

She walked through the streets, drinking in the sounds and the smells and the _memories_, heading towards a familiar place. She entered the old, abandoned warehouse, stepping silently up the stairs that led to her "room". She entered the room, which hadn't collected dust, surprisingly, and stepped over to the old mattress by the window.

There were flowers on the windowsill- blue forget-me-nots and orchids. A single white rose, and larkspurs. Asters and anemone - all of her favorite flowers. Never forget, delicate beauty, purity, beautiful spirit, contentment, fragility. And a single white carnation- remembrance. All of them new, all of them with special meaning. She felt tears stinging behind her eyes, and turned instead to the small table by the mattress. There was a single picture on it.

In the picture, she was standing in front of a counter. From the pictures point of view, the counter blocked her legs. Behind the counter, and closest to the camera, a boy leaned forwards, towards her. They both wore school uniforms- white shirt, a gold and red checkered vest over it, and black bottoms and shoes. The boy wore a black apron, and they were smiling. She remembered that his boss had snapped this photo while standing in the doorway. He had playfully accused them of flirting, and she had sunk down until only her eyes and her fierce blush had been visible. His boss had laughed good naturedly, and the next day, he had presented a copy of the photo to each of them, laughing while saying, "Ah, young love." She had blushed again, taking the photo and thanking him. The pair had turned back towards the school, laughing and chatting.

_That was one month before the monsters. One month before it all came crashing down._

She shook her head, turning around to leave.

**And if she had stayed, she wouldn't have missed the boy who came in five minutes later with fresh flowers and a prayer. **

6.

She was being transferred.

It had been 3 months since her first mission, 3 months since her visit, 3 months since the memories, _3 months since she had allowed herself to __**feel.**_

Head-Captain Yamamoto had summoned her. He told her that she was being sent to Karakura Town, where a group of Shinigami where undercover as a private school to eliminate Hollows that were attracted to the Reiatsu. She was to join them.

_No, no no, _she whispered in her mind. _Don't send me there._

Did she protest? Did she throw a fit? Did she refuse?

No.

She nodded.

**I present to you this 9 paged, 3457 word sucker (Without the A/N) This has taken me forever to write. Future chapters are to be shorter.**

**Sorry if it was rushed ^-^".**

**Worry not about a Mary Sue, my OC whose name you have yet to find out has her limits.**

**This chapter was hard to write, I for one am not one for angst.**

**For the purposes of this fic:**

**The Arrancar make up the 14****th****division.**

**Aizen betrayed NO ONE.**

**There are actually no main bad guys (yet) :D**

**Uryuu and the Quincy are okay with the Shinigami.**

**There is a school somewhere in Karakura where the Shinigami and Arrancar chill, sooo yeah XD.**

**So, if you have questions, please feel free to drop a review and ask away!**

**The appearance of my OC is yet to be revealed, so DON'T bother with that.**

**Anyways, see ya!**

**-Edit One-Okay, so that's that! Cya! (There are now 3468 words!)**

**-Cele**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okaaaaay, here is the second chapter! Hopefully, this one clears up lots more than the first one! I dedicate this chapter to Mizundaztood23, my first fav/follower!**

**Mizundaztood23: Thank you for your review and fav/follow! Here is the second chapter- enter Ichigo, Rukia and the rest of the gang!**

**Arya: :P**

**Enjoy! **

**-Cele**

**…**

_"__We have sent the 14__th __division, a substitute shinigami, multiple subordinates and a couple of captains out to Karakura to pose as a small private school. You are to leave by 1300 hours to join them."_

"Eight minutes!" She hissed indignantly. "He gave me eight minutes to pack!" She ripped her hands through her hair and groaned. "I haven't even graduated yet!" She mimicked to Head Captains voice.

_"__There is no need for you to graduate here. You learn quickly, so you shall be tutored by someone in Karakura."_

She groaned again.

**_Well, in any case, it can't be that bad, _**The white woman reasoned. **_Just sit and watch how they behave, and act accordingly. Simple._**

She sighed. " For you to say. Can I just be another sociopath and avoid everyone?"

The black man scoffed. **Sure. Actually, you should do that for a while. **

The white woman murmured her consent.

"Seriously?" She asked rhetorically. "Here goes nothing…" She murmured and stepped through the Senkeimon.

.

"Class!" Shouted Urahara with his signature smile and fan as he waltzed into the room. The occupants of the classroom gave him a bored look and went back to doing what they were doing before his interruption. He pouted a little and continued his announcement anyways, after all, if they didn't hear, it was too bad for them!

"We've got a new student~…" At those words, heads began popping up as murmurs rippled through the class. "Come on in~…"

The door opened, and a figure stepped in. She was wearing the standard school uniform- short gray skirt, knee high white socks and black shoes. Half of her face and upper body, however, were concealed by an oversized black hoodie.

"Welcome to the class!" said Urahara, and, after patting her head twice, he waltzed back out of the room. Half a second later, he popped his head back in. "Sit by Orihime. Orihime, raise your hand, please." Orihime complied, and Urahara grinned. "Have fun!" And then he was gone.

Orihime smiled cheerily at the hooded girl. "Hi! I'm Orihime Inoue! Have you ever been to Karakura Town before? It's really nice. This is Kurosaki Ichigo, that's Kuchiki Rukia, his name is Ishida, Uryu Ishida, that's Sado, but we mostly call him Chad, that's Hitsugaya-taicho, she's Matsumoto-fukutaicho, and those are the 14th division leading Arrancars." She pointed to each person as she called them out, and then to the other half of the classroom, where, separated from the group she now sat with by a row of desks, were multiple people lounging in various positions. She then turned to her new vict- er, friend. "What's your name?" She inquired, smiling brightly.

She paused. "I'm… K…"

**Choose a new name?**

**_Take a new name, dear._**

She raised her head slightly. "I am Yukino Tenshi, the angel that rules over the realm of snow." She said, hoping hoping _hoping _that her voice wouldn't tremble.

Orihime blinked at her announcement, and then smiled. "Yukino? That's such a pretty name!"

Yukino smiled slightly, almost invisibly, and a hint of a blush dusted her cheeks. "Thank you." She gestured around the room, where everyone had more or less resumed their normal activities. "Do we just sit around?"

Orihime nodded. "We don't have much to do, and most of us are so behind, it's practically hopeless. So, we just hang out!"

Yukino nodded and the table fell into a semi-awkward silence.

Ichigo finally broke the silence by clearing his throat.

"Well, er, Yukino, where did you come from?" He asked.

She turned her face towards him. "I don't remember," She lied smoothly. She scanned the room, noting the occupants quickly. "Who is the Substitute Shinigami?" Ichigo raised his hand, and then pointed to Uryu.

"He's a Quincy, and Chad," he gestured to said man, "is of Fullbringer heritage **(I looked this up on the web, I have no idea if it's right TT_TT) **"Orihime has an ability call 'Shun Shun Rikka', her hairpins." Orihime grinned a little. Ichigo pointed to the other side of the room. "The one with the green eyes is Ulquiorra, the one with the spoon-ish thing on his head is Nnoitra, the blonde girl is Tier Harribel, the girl with the green hair is Nelliel, we call her Nel for short, the guy with spiky black hair is Aaroniero, the guy who's asleep is Starrk, and the girl that's drawing on his face is Lilynette, his other half. And- where the hell did Grimmjow-"

"Behind you, bastard," said the light blue haired man. He glared directly at the orange haired boy, seemingly ignoring the rest of the table. "We can introduce ourselves just fine."

Ichigo snorted and jumped up, putting himself nose-to-nose with Grimmjow. "Clearly, but since _you _guys made no effort to, _I _had to. And trust me; I didn't want to, either. Aaroniero is a hard-ass name to pronounce." Having gotten that cleared up, both boys seemed to deflate, and Grimmjow scowled and looked directly at her. He then turned around and stalked away.

Ichigo ran his hand through his hair and plopped down in his seat, muttering about 'damn school no-fighting rules.'

Yukino secretly smothered a laugh.

Was this what it was like, to be among friends?

.

The rest of the class was like that, everyone talking about everything and nothing. Ichigo started a brawl in the hallway with Grimmjow during lunch, which Nnoitra and Renji gladly joined, which resulted in the lot of them being sent to the nurse, and Urahara went in to complain about "the forth wall that they broke this week." Grimmjow had watched, with little to no interest, a cat chase after a seemingly lame squirrel across the grass, and Ichigo had rubbed the inside of his ear with his pinky; both actions seemed to anger Urahara more. Rukia turned to her with a small smile.

"This, unfortunately, is a regular occurrence here," She explained. "No matter how much we try to beat the rules into them, they manage to find something to fight over." She said it so casually that Yukino had to suppress a smile.

"They don't like each other?" She asked quietly. Rukia shook her head.

"More like no one else wants to go full out. Grimmjow could care less about the rules, and Ichigo is used to getting in trouble, unfortunately. They're both idiots." She sighed. "I swear, someday, it's going to get so frustrating that Urahara is going to _snap._ And when he does, it won't be pretty. It's hard enough with the damage to the buildings that the boys cause; we really don't need _teachers_ adding in too. Of course, my nii-sama is too sophisticated to do something like that, because he-"

"You mean Byakushi? Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass? Mr. I-make-pink- Whoa! OKAY OKAY OKAY I'M SORRY RUKIA I'M SORRY- OH SERIOUSLY I JUST GOT HEALED- RUUUKIIIIAAAAA!"

Needless to say, chaos ensued.

Precisely eight minutes and eighty-eight (nine minutes and twenty-eight) seconds later, a fifth wall was broken, Ichigo was back in the infirmary with two broken ribs and a concussion with Renji who was nursing multiple large bruises on his head, regretting that he had bothered to attempt to help Ichigo in the first place. Rukia dusted invisible dirt off of her skirt, and clapped cheerily. "Let's show Yukino the dorm now, shall we?"

.

**-Intermission: 4 months earlier- **

**He set down the flowers- blue forget-me-nots and orchids. A single white rose, and larkspurs. Asters and anemone - all of ****_her_**** favorite flowers. Never forget, delicate beauty, purity, beautiful spirit, contentment, fragility. And a single white carnation- remembrance.**

**He got them for ****_her, _****every single day.**

**(well, it's not like she deserved any less.)**

**He sighed as he set down the vase, settling down on the mattress, staring out of the window. It wasn't easy to forget her- it got harder and harder, as if every day was another step into the realm of memories.**

**(Did this realm exist, or was she ****_haunting_**** him like he so deserved?)**

**It burned his heart, consuming and boiling and it hurthurthurt, because ****_she trusted him _****and****_ he betrayed her._**

**_(But he wonders, where could she be now?)_**

**_(Should he join her?)_**

**_(Would it be selfish?)_**

.

Yukino settled down on the bed, the thick material soft and warm and she stretched her legs out, allowing joints to pop into place as she rolled her neck, stiff from sitting in a classroom for hours on end.

Orihime laughed and dropped down on her own bed. "It gets a bit boring, but nighttime is the _real _action starts. Tonight is Ichigo's shift- yep, we have to take shifts, otherwise there are fights, and it never turns out well. Anyways, Ichigo is patrolling tonight, so you can go with him!" She grinned cheekily.

Yukino smiled and nodded.

.

Ichigo scowled as he stood on the school roof, glaring down at nothing at particular and swinging his sword casually around. Yukino stood outside of the stabbing range, staring at the stars.

Ichigo turned to her suddenly. "You were lying, earlier, about not remembering where you came from." It wasn't a question.

"I was."

"Why?" he asked her. It was a common question.

Why? She didn't answer for a while.

"Because I would really rather not remember," she finally said. Ichigo didn't respond.

.

It wasn't quite midnight when Ichigo's Soul Pager went off. He took a quick peek at the screen and nodded to her, springing off into the darkness. She followed after popping a Soul Candy into her mouth and leaving her gigai on the roof (with an order to 'not jump') and pulling a mask up to completely cover her face, save her eyes which were invisible in the dark.

Balancing on tendrils of spiritual powers, she leapt from strand to strand after Ichigo, who was waiting for her. She stared blankly down at the Menos Grande- the _Menos Grande. _

_Well, shit._

**Great.**

**_... This is unexpected._**

_You don't say. Then again, the Spiritual Energy here is suffocating- and _shit_, wasn't Ichigo just beside me?_

**_He was._**

**Damn, you missed the action again!**

_Well, I really can't steal his shift._

**Shift my ass, you're just being a pussy.**

**_Whack!_**

**Ow! Damn it, don't hit me with that!**

**_Whack!_**

**Hitting me with the ****_hilt_**** of the goddamn katana still counts as hitting me with the goddamn katana! It doesn't matter if its with the hilt or the tip! **

Yukino sighed and shook her head.

Ichigo stared at her, slightly confused. "You alright?" Beneath them, the Menos Grande disintegrated. She responded with her own question.

"Are _you_ alright? That was a…"

"Menos Grande."

"I know."

"I'm fine. Let's head back to the school. I bet Kon somehow screwed up and your gigai is beating him up."

"Probably."

\End of "Day One" at "Shinigami High"/

**…**

**A/N: This chapter is not quite 5 pages, but with the first chapter and the A/N's this fanfic is almost 15 pages. This chapters word count is (without the A/N): 1821! And with the A/N: (drumroll, pleaseeeee…) 1921!**

**See ya in the next chapter!**

-Cele


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